Fluid current motor



June 9, 1931. OTTEVAERE 1,809,180

FLUID CURRENT MOTOR Filed Aug. 6, 192' 2 Sheets-Shem l A ttof ne y Patented June 9, 1931 T UNITEli) ,1-,s09,1sc 1 'N w1md rm w m, on SPOKANE, wnsimvs'ron v.

" FLUID cURR'nivr Moron ApplicationfileiiyAugiist e, 1927, Serial No; 211,163.

My present invention relates to improvements in fluidicurrent motors or'air motors designed for the purpose of, taking advanducing power-thatmay be transmittedto a place for. use'as desired The tower or en closure for the -air ,motor is of cylindrical sectional form, the diameters of the cylindri- V 1 cal sections being reduced. from'bottom to-- wardfthe top of the tower; Within the tower, a sectional'spirally arranged vane is utilized in each one of the tower sections,

in connection with a sectional driving shaft, and means .arejprovided'for. directing the air currents either naturalfor art1fic1al, to

the interior of the tower for operating the H spirally arranged iinpellersor vanes on the shaft sections. v C .7 The 11117611171011" conslsts 1n certain novel ffcombinations and arrangementsof parts as;

will hereinafter 'be-more fullyset forth and claimed. r J In the accompanying. drawings, Iih'ave .il-

V lustrated one complete example of the physi- V 'v cal embodiment of my inventionwhereinlthe parts are combined and arranged. according tojthe best mode .I have; so far, devisedlfor the practical application of gthe' principles- ]of myinvention, I 1

5 (Figure 1 is a vertical'sectional view 20f the tower on housing of the motor showing the vspiral vanes and sectional driving shaft within the tower; V v

. Fig. 2 is a e'xteriori view of thetovver;

is an enlarged detail view 0f, oneof; the inlet doors and its transomused for I permitting the admission of air currents to the tower; i E5 9 5 5 0 1 I Fig; adetail sectional viewiof one of =to-revolve under the conical top 5 17. These housings are rigid with the spider detail view showing one of the rollers for supportingthe. base member of t -t x- Fig.1 an a horizontal sectional view at 'the clutch devices between the sections of i the driving shaft.

series ;of cylindrical walls here shown as four'in number, andde'signated 1, 2, 3 and .4. The largest cylinder 1, which is the base cylinder, is rotatable, and the-cylinders 2,

3 and 4t superimposed thereon are of succe'ssively diminishing; diameter, I and the top: most cylinder ,4: is open atits upper 611d. Between the cylinders are arranged conical shaped tops 5, 6 and 7, the top 5 projecting outwardly over vthe rotatable base section 1, and the succeeding conical top sections V 6 and 7 projecting at theirlower edges :over;

In carrying out my nvention, I utilize a the-cylinders'Q and 3. The three cylinders 2, 3 andAc together with the conical shaped interior braces 8 which have foundation members 9 properly embedded in the ground, and the rotatable base section lissupported llVithin the tower i a centrally located sectional drive shaft comprising aseries of 'sections,' here shownias three and designated top 5 are all supported from the' ground by p 10, ll and 1-2.- .At the base a thrust bearing 13 is provided, and: a gear housingl .ar

ranged within the brace members 8 is' prov vided'with ajbearing 15 at the upper'end of the conical top 19 of thehousing. Spider,

frames 16 are provided forflproperly sup-L fporting the sections of the driving shaft within the tower, and between thesections of'the shaft are previded clutch housings as frames, and withinfthe housings are toothed;

secured on the adjoining ends offthe shaft sections. In connection with the. clutches, I utilize ball bearings as 20 to insure smooth operation of the shaft sections, andit will be clutch members are gear irings 18,1and19 apparent that the shaft sections may be con- -nected or disconnected at will through agency ofthese clutch devices. For operat-r ing the clutches, I provideeachclutch device withfa cam member as-21 adapted tocoact with a flange 22 on the upper clutchmember tends horizontally and out through one of V,

-;as'1 8,and this cam member iscarried on a rock'shaft or cam shaft; 23. The shaft exthe conical tops, and at its outer end is provided with a cam arm 24 to which is attached a pull cord or cable 25, and this cable extends down to and is wound upon a drum or other device 26. By pulling on the cord or cable 25, it will be apparent that the cam.

shaft may'be'roclred to cause the cam 21 to turn and elevate the shaft section directly above it. In Fig. 6, one of the clutch devices is shown open with the cam 21 engaged under the llange'22 'an dholdin'g the shaft sections separated. By means of the clutches, the shaft sections may be separated or disconnected in order that-the wind currents may act only to drive one, two or three"ofthe shatt sections.

Each of the shaft sections 185 provided with a spiral vane as-27, 28 and 29, and each of these vanes has an outer downwardly eX- tendingfiange "30. The lower vane 27 is larger in diameter than the succeeding-vanes, and the intermediate "van-e 28 is larger in diameter thanthe topvane 29.

These vanes are instrui'nental in turning the shaft sections, and thebottom section 10 i is provided with a' driving pinion 31 that engages a driven gear 32 'on the drivenshaft -'33,*and thisshaft is provided with suitable bearings, anda pulley 84from which power maybe transmitted by-a belt, and used in suitable manner. The gearing just described is enclosedwithin the housing 14, and power is transmitted to thegearingthrough the rotation of the shaft, sections.

"The base cylinder 1 as heretofore pointed out,-is rotatable, and-is supported by means of a seriesof rollers-35 journaled'on stud shafts 36 that project from the exterior of the base cylinder near its lower edge. These rollers 'are adapted to travel -upon an' annu- *lar'trac'k 37 and at its upper edge the-base "cylinder revolves Within another annular track '38, and rollers 39 are provided for coaction with this annular track.

The base cylinderisprovided with a plurality-"of doors 40 located-in openings 41 and pivoted on trunnions 42, 42. The open- "ings '41, as seen in Fig.5, o'ccupy approximerely one-half ofthecircumferential area of thebase cylinder1,wand" the doors 40 are pivoted on the trnnnions 42 that form' a verclatefd in Fig. 5.

tical' axis for turning of the doors, as indi-, T he doors may be turned at various anglesto direct air currents'into the interior of the base cylinderyan d the 1 base cyli'nder'itself maybe turned 01 adjusted so that the openings 41 will itacethedirece tion from which the wind is blowing. Above each door isprovided a transom 43, which I has a horizontal hinge on pins44, and-these transomsare de signed to control-the openings 45 in the base "cylinder. "The transoms are designed to swing inwardly as indicated "in 'Fig. l 'by dotted lines, and when swung "inwardly,,they permit air" currents to enter tions within the tower.

conical tops 6 are braces 50, which-are =arranged around the inner face-of -each 10f these conical tops, and these braces which below the conical roof or top 5, and these air currents are directed toward the spiral vanes.

To assist in directing the air currents to the interior of the base cylinder, I provide a pair of guide plates or shields 46 and 47 which are hinged on vertical hinges 48 on the exterior-face ofthebase cylinder 1. As

seen in Fig.6, these guide plates may be swung to position to guide or deflect the air currentstoward the openings 41 in the base cylinder, thus utilizing air currents that might otherwise pass by the base cylinder. The air currents entering through the openings in the base cylinder pass upwardly between the conical shaped roof or top 5 and the conical top 49 of the-gear housing 14,

and in this manner the air ,currents are clirecte d to the spiralvanes of the shaft sections' to'rotate'the vanes and theshaftsec- Associated with the are spacedapart, also form;- guides for the a1r currents to prevent swirling-motion of the air currents. By thus straightening out the movement of the -air "currents, these indicatedby dotted linesin=Fig. 1, and as they are arranged between the spacedvguide plates or braces 50, they .per-mit entrance of a1r currents and these air currents are clirected in straight lines by thespaced braces.

*It'w'ill be apparent-that the movement of the air currents through the openings 41 "causes a draft in an upward direction 1 through the entire length of the-tower. As the rising air currents 1 impinge against the spiral vanes, the motor performs theffunction of-atufbina-and the shaft sections which are coupled together are thus re volved. Between the turbine sections, the

air currents are straightened out by the-presence of-thebraces or gui'des *5 O,= and it will 1 be seen that-after leaving these guides, the air currents are directedin straight lines, and-they l-mpmgeagainst 'thesurfaces of the spiral vanes, thus performing thefunctions ofa turbine. One or more of the'shaft secl tions may be thrown out -or"-use b'y manipulating the clutch devices, or all of the shaft sections may be util-ized w-hen suflicient power is provided in the aircurrents. I

Having thus fully-described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The combination in a motor comprising an air tower having a rotary base cylinder with openings therein and doors to regulate said openings, adjustable guide plates on said cylinder for directing air currents toward said openings, and a series of superimposed stationary cylinders of successively reduced diameters, of a sectional driving I shaft journaled within the tower, clutch devices between the sections of said shaft, spiral vanes of successively reduced diameters on said shaft, and power transmitting mechanism operated from said shaft.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CONSTANT OTTEVAERE. 

